Colorado — Commercial Refinance
The Challenge
The client is a commercial real estate investor who owned a modern, fully leased two-unit commercial property in a prime Parker, Colorado location. On paper, it was a strong asset generating steady monthly rental income. Beneath the surface, the capital structure had become untenable.
The first mortgage was held by a hard money lender at a punitive interest rate, stacked on top of an outstanding SBA balance. Together, those obligations consumed the property’s cash flow. Payments had been missed, and the client’s credit had suffered as a result. The refinance carried an elevated loan-to-value against the appraised value.
The client had already approached multiple banks to refinance the debt. Every one of them declined. With conventional channels exhausted, the client found Aspen’s website and called in directly.
Aspen’s Approach
Aspen took the client through its full Discovery Process. From the outset, this was clearly a difficult transaction — impaired credit, missed payments, high leverage, and a string of prior bank declines. Rather than turn the client away, Aspen committed to a deep dive.
After collecting the complete document package and conducting a thorough review, Aspen identified the lender in its network most likely to have the flexibility and appetite for this type of file — a California-based lender experienced in complex, non-conforming refinances. Aspen presented the transaction with full transparency, outlining every challenge, every complication, and every reason the banks had said no. The lender agreed to review the package.
Navigating the Obstacles
Underwriting was intensive, and the lender’s team initially declined — citing leverage at the upper boundary of its appetite and the underwriting risk presented by the payment history.
Aspen did not accept the decline. Aspen negotiated directly with the lender, demonstrating that the client had caught up on all back payments and was keeping both loans current, and making the case that the refinance itself would materially reduce the monthly obligation and remove the financial pressure that had caused the delinquencies in the first place. The client committed to keeping all future payments current. The argument was compelling, and the lender agreed to continue.
A second obstacle then emerged. When the payoff statement arrived from the hard money lender, it carried excessive fees that had not been anticipated in the original loan structure. Once fully underwritten, the numbers required the client to bring cash to closing — cash the client did not have. The deal appeared to be dead.
The Creative Solution
Aspen identified the one remaining path. The client held equity in a personal residence. Aspen proposed leveraging that equity, using a second lien on the personal property to supply the additional capital needed to close.
The client agreed. The lender placed a second lien on the personal residence, and the commercial refinance funded at 100 percent — the entire transaction, including the payoff shortfall and all closing costs, financed without a dollar from the client. The transaction closed.
The Outcome
The punitive hard money mortgage was refinanced at a dramatically lower rate, eliminating the debt service that had destabilized the client’s finances
The outstanding SBA balance was consolidated into the new financing structure
Closing costs and fees were rolled into the loan — no out-of-pocket expense to the client
The loan funded at 100 percent by leveraging personal property equity; the client brought nothing to closing
Monthly payment obligations were significantly reduced, restoring positive cash flow on a fully leased, income-producing asset
A financially distressed investor was given a viable path forward — when every other lender had said no
What This Story Demonstrates About Aspen
Persistence — Aspen does not walk away when the first lender declines. When the underwriting team said no, Aspen negotiated and won.
Advocacy — Aspen made the case for the client with transparency, data, and conviction, turning a decline into a conditional approval.
Creative Problem-Solving — When unanticipated payoff fees created an insurmountable cash-to-close requirement, Aspen structured a solution using personal property equity that no bank had suggested — and delivered 100 percent financing.
Deep Lender Relationships — The California lender relationship was the key that unlocked this transaction. No bank, and no broker without that relationship, could have delivered this outcome.
Client-First Commitment — The client came to Aspen with impaired credit, prior bank declines, missed payments, and no cash to close. Aspen found a way. That is the Aspen difference.